Street Art on Campus

On Saturday some of the most interesting figures in street art visited Haverford. (Street art is, quite simply, art that appears in public spaces, but it often refers to unsanctioned art such as graffiti, stencils, pasted posters and guerilla sculptures.) Jordan Seiler, Gaia and Marc and Sara Schiller were on campus for “Street Communications,” a John B. Hurford ’60 Humanities Center-sponsored panel discussion. They spoke about art and advertising and got into some heated debates during which Seiler pushed for revolutionary ideas about public space, the Schillers advocated a more moderate perspective and Gaia found some middle ground.

After dark, Gaia (a pseudonym he uses to hide his identity) painted a permanent mural at James House, the student arts building, and it turned into a bit of a party as people came by to watch him work.